My first grow (4x4 tent)

Jesus Christ was atheist

Jesus Christ was atheist

Member
I have discovered my passion in life. I started this journey on May 1 and had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I didn't start out with everything I needed because I couldn't afford it. Instead I have to wait for my pay checks to finish buying everything. But slowly everything is falling in place. Enjoy
 
Jesus Christ was atheist

Jesus Christ was atheist

Member
New led light 450watts image.jpgimage.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg my 6" carbon scrubber and 440cfm fan came in the mail today. My tent is 112cf so there should be no heat problems when I put in a 600watt hps later on. image.jpg
My fan is now in my attic pulling air through the carbon scrubber from inside my tent.image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg last picture was taken today. I could veg them out longer and fill up more space but I decided to switch them to 12/12 starting today.
 
Jesus Christ was atheist

Jesus Christ was atheist

Member
Thanks guys i really appreciate the encouragement! I'm really liking this led light I got because I don't have to worry about heat as much so I can literally put it on the canopy and it has 4 built in fans that not only cool the light down but circulate air inside the tent. My tent is 4x4 and I need to get another light to maximise the full potential of the space. I could either get another 450w led light or a 600w hps. I really like the led light but I think I would benefit more from a 600w hps both lights have advantages over the other so I think it would make sense to use both. What do you guys think?
 
yodabuds

yodabuds

Well-Known Member
That's what I currently run in a tent , 5x5 with a 1,000w hps and a blackstar chrome. 270. I owe a few LEDs a couple from blackstar, a couple from bysen ( direct from china and very legit , good warranty) , and the Cali works solar storm 400w (my least impressed led of the lot to be truthful) a 600w hps with the led would be PERFECT IMHO for your setup... At one point when I had the 4x4 I had four LEDs in there... Also had good results but I just think besides the heat the hid lightening mixed with led is best IMHO.... I think the more of spectrum of light you can replicate the better off you are... I ran a few grows with mixed flowering spectrum and some mh and the mh really kicked up the trich production... (As the uv bulbs from the Cali works light do as well, but you can just by a few t5 fixtures and run a few uv last couple of weeks of flowering... ) I've done a side by side one tent with the uv and the other under the hps/led... Obviously bigger yield under the 1,000w but def much frostier though more airy nugs under the Cali light.... Good luck in whatever you decide.... Even consider two 250w hid's so you can have the luxury of hanging at different heights to maximize the light that gets to the canopy if you have plants of different heights...
Best of luck, and looking forward to watching the rest of this unfold...
 
Jesus Christ was atheist

Jesus Christ was atheist

Member
Sounds like you have experience under your belt. Yes I have considered getting 2 250w hids so I can get better coverage but money is tight for me right now and I think it would be cheaper to get 1 600w. I'm hoping I can get a pound from this harvest once I throw in a 600watter.
 
tattooman1968

tattooman1968

Member
Its cool to see a new grower go DWC. I know im not going to use soil ever again indoors.

Im kicking myself in the ass for not switching to hydro 15 years ago.

Glad you are thinking of getting a 600W, the LEDs are cool but really are kind of a toy in comparison.
 
Jesus Christ was atheist

Jesus Christ was atheist

Member
I decided not to start out with soil because it seemed like the most work with slower growth potential. I'm doing dwc because it's cheap and easy. However, it has more potential for root problems(which I had to deal with) because the roots are constantly sitting in water. Also, each plant has its own reservoir and I have 4 plants so that means looking after 4 separate reservoirs. So I guess what I'm saying is dwc is the easiest to setup but it has the highest maintenance and I'm definitely gonna setup an aeroponic system for next grow (I'll talk about that more closer to harvest). I still think dwc is less maintenance than soil. I would like to have at least one soil grow so I can compare the grow/rate to hydro. Don't feel regret for growing with soil all those years because now when u switch to hydro you will have a lot of experience to compare it to.
The led light I'm using is a mars 2 900watt (450actual watt) rated at 29000 lumens. I wouldn't exactly say its a toy compared to an hid light. I think it's comparable to a 600w hps. I've never grown with an hid bigger than 250w so this is just speculation and maybe a 600w hps can outgrow this light but it also adds a lot of heat. When I was using a 250w metal halide my temps ran at 85f and now with just the led light in there the temps are 78f. I'm soon adding a 600w hps and I'm confident I can manage the extra heat from it by using a cool tube attached to my good ventilation. If I was to replace my led with a 600w hps and run with 2 of them in my tent then I'd basically be maxed out for amps out of 15amps and I'm sure I'd have heat problems. I know once I get my 600w hps light I'll have a better idea of which light is better but for the moment the led light seems to be producing good results.

First pic is from 4 days agoimage.jpg
Just 4 days later. Today
image.jpg image.jpg
Another thing I'd like to point out is look how close I'm able to keep my light to the canopy. Some of the taller branches are only 1" from the light with no problem. The closer the light is to the canopy the bigger the yield; I've heard of people outgrowing a 1000w hps with a 600w because they kept their light closer. Even with a cool tube I highly doubt I can keep an hps as close as my led light.
 
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